Preparing for Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey to Germany

Tommorow marks Pope Benedict XVI's third apostolic visit to Germany as Pope (and first state visit). If yesterday's story from an obviously-disgruntled Der Spiegel and Sandro Magister ("where atheists are in the majority and almost no one is baptized anymore") are any indication, he has his work cut out for him.

• Pope makes rare television address to German people, by David Kerr. Catholic News Agency 9/20/11. (Video - Rome Reports).
• Those Fearing the Future Should Follow Pope's Germany Trip Zenit 9/20/11.
• Benedict XVI Planning a Busy Trip Home Zenit 9/19/11. "Benedict XVI's trip home this week -- his third pastoral visit to Germany as Pope and his first state visit -- will be uniquely intense. The 84-year-old Pontiff will give 17 addresses and have nearly two dozen meetings in four days."
• German pope ventures into land of Luther and Marx, by Stephen Brown. Reuters. 9/16/11. "Indifference, irritation and, inevitably, protest will likely mark a papal trip to the former East Germany that includes an historic meeting in the one-time home of Martin Luther to find ways Catholics and Protestants can work together to save Germany's soul."
• Benedict among the Germans, by Samuel Gregg. American Spectator 9/12/11.
• How have the numbers in German Catholics changed during papacy of Benedict XVI? Rome Reports. (Video)
• Germany, the Mayor of Berlin Sympathetic to the Antipapists, by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/27/11. "The Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, feels "great sympathy" for people who protest against Pope Benedict XVI during his first official visit to Germany."
• Benedict XVI “theologian of the modern day”, the unexpected support offered by Gregor Gysi, by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/23/11. "At the eve of the Pope’s trip to Germany, the leader of the radical left unexpectedly praises the Pope."
• Dialogue and reconciliation, the German church is put to the test, by Guido Horst. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/5/11. "As the President of the German Bishops Conference, the Archbishop of Freiburg, Monsignor Robert Zollitsch, closed the Conference’s plenary session in September 2010, he announced a comprehensive “process of dialogue and reflection” that would haul the Catholic Church in Germany beyond the crisis sparked by the story of abuse."
• , by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/2/11. "What space do homosexuals have within the Catholic Church? Ten years after the law on same sex civil unions was introduced in Germany on 1 August 2001, the question divides German bishops."